REDSTONE ARSENAL, Alabama -- Government employees are not always what they seem, sometimes they are so much more.
Simone Philson, senior program analyst, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command Future Warfare Center, deals with force structure tasks within the command and deals with Department of Defense and other agencies as the command provides services and support to those entities.
"It is an important component because a lot of things the FWC does provides direct and indirect services to different agencies who provide support to our Warfighters in the field," Philson said. "Even though I am not a technical person, I play an important role in getting items through the system so we can further support the Warfighter."
Originally from New Jersey, Philson enjoys exercising, cooking and working in her yard. She has two daughters. Jordan, who is currently a student at Auburn University, and Bianca who is an Army captain currently commanding ‎Bravo Company, 112th Signal Battalion (Special Operations) (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
"Bianca has had three deployments so far," Philson said. "Her being a Soldier makes me take my job even more seriously than ever before."
Philson began her career as an enlisted Soldier and served as an accounting specialist in Virginia. In July, Philson will have 32 years of federal government service, with more than 24 years in USASMDC/ARSTRAT, and more than 22 years of those years in the FWC.
"What I enjoy most about SMDC is that the command is like my second family," Philson said. "We have all grown up together and our children have grown up together. It is a family-type atmosphere that exists in this command that makes us different than a lot of other places."
Philson said the day after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, she understood the enormous impact that had on the Warfighter.
"Something we had developed was turned over to the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command at Fort Bliss, Texas, and they sent it up to the National Capital Region and it remains there today," Philson said. "That made me really realize that we are not just pushing paper and collecting paychecks. It helped me understand that we are supporting the troops who are putting their lives on the line and they are depending on us to do things, no matter how small, to support them."
Philson said that being at SMDC for as long as she has, has given her a breadth of knowledge and understanding of the different changes the command has gone through.
"Try to learn as much as you can," she said. "Don't just be stuck in the little niche you were hired for. Expand your base of knowledge and be that go-to person who people can depend on for anything. Accept challenges that are outside of your scope of work because that can help you get recognition, be considered a team player and can help advance yourself quicker than if you just stay in one place.
"I think I am serving with my 10th commanding general," Philson added. "I have seen quite a bit and have an institutional knowledge of where we have been, and I look forward to where we are going."
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